boehner. the two agreed it was in foeryone's best interest to get a fiscal cliff deal sooner rather than later, both agreed to aim for one before christmas, but they also acknowledged, scott, it will be very difficult to achieve that. >> pelley: thank you, major. will the president's team find a receptive republican congress? nancy cordes is on capitol hill for us tonight. nancy. >> reporter: well, scott, one top republican aide actually told me today that he sees these talks as one-sided, that republicans have been making all the proposals, and speaker boehner said he's still waiting for a balanced offer from the white house. >> republicans are willing to att revenue on the table but it's time for the president and democrats to get serious about the spending problem that our country has. >> reporter: today on capitol hill, erskine bowles met with both sides. he's the co-chair of simpson- bowles commission that drew up a leading plan to cut the federal debt. >> i upon hopeful but i wouldn't pu